Adapter for connecting devices



Patented .im le, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.t

GEORGE C. THOMAS, JR., OF ELIZABETH, NEW-JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO THE THOMAS& BEETS O0., OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

ADAPTER FOB CONNECTDTG DEVICES.

Application tiled Kay 4,

Tovall whom t may concer/nl" Be it `known that I, GEORGE C. THOMAS, Jr.a citizen of the United States, residin at lizabeth, in the county ofUnion an State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Adapters for Connecting Devices, 'of which the followingis a s eciiication.

M invention relates to adapters for' connecting devices, by which l meanappliances which may be used in connectionI with openings in outletboxes, or the like, to enable an electrical connector, conduit or cable,or the like, of a smaller size than the opening, to be mountedin orthrough the opening.

llt is very often desired to mount a connector, or a conduit, or acable, or the like, through a substantially larger opening in the wallof an outlet box or other appliance, and various means have beenemployed heretofore to more satisfactorily conform the size of theopening to the size of the element intended to be placed therethrough.Such means have usual y taken the form of an annular shank formed onabushing ada ted to be secured upon the connector, to. asten it to thewall, with the shank extending into the opening between the wall and theneck of t e connector. Bushings d nuts having euch Shanks have beencomparatively costly to manufacture andI only permit of the placing ofthe connector or conduit centrally through the opening. The aim of myinvention 1s to provide a simple device which is separate from theconnector or from the means by which the connector is fastened to theopening, and a device which may be readily and easily inse in an openingand will satisfactorily adaptthe opening to the sizeof the particularconnector, or conduit, or cable. A iurther object of my invention is toprovide means whereby the adapter will be securely locked againstremoval or displacement when the connector or conduit is in position inthe opening. Another object of my invention 1s to provide an adapter forelectrical connectors, conduits, cables and the like, which permits ofthe positioning of the connector, or the like, toward any side of theopening as desired, and a device which may he manufactured at a low costand separately from the connectors 'and from the rcel-1 nuts, or similarelements, used in 1981..V Serial No. 486,782.

locking the connectors in position on the wells. 1i h accom s my urposevery sim 1y and efclently y provnng a substantie. 1y crescent-sha pieceof material having suitable rigidity, and providing at a plurality ofpoints on lts exterior periphery outwardly extending ears, one or moreof which ears are voffset axially in one direction to a certain extent,and others of which are oEset'axially in the opposite direction to acertain extent. This device is adapted to be placed inside of an openingin an outlet boxor the like, with its outer periphery contacting theperiphery of the opening, and with two or more/of the ears overlaplngopposlte sides of the wall about t e opening, and w1th its innerperiphery contactmg the outer periphery of a. connector, or conduit, orcable, or the. like, seated through the opening. By being disposed inthe opening between the periphery of the openrng and the connector, orother member therein, an opening is provided conforming more nearly tothe size ofthe inserted element, and at the same time the adapter isheld by the ears, which engage and overlap opposite sides of the wall,from axial disp acement from the opening when the connector or otherelement, is positioned them- 1n. By positioning 'the adapter in apredetermined positionin respect to the circumference o the opening, theconnector, or other element, may be positioned toward any side of theopening as desired. The adapter is so constructed that the usual meansfor lookin the connector or other element, to the wa are not interferedwith. The locking means moreover, aid in retaininguthe adapter in 1tsdesired position in the w In order that my invention may be more clearlyunderstood, attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawingsforming part of this `plication and illustrating one possible em.` of myinvention.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 illustra in side elevation one form of myinvention mounted in an opening in a wall, in combination with anelectrical connecting device; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the deviceillustrated and mounted as in Fig. 1, theview being view of my improvedadapter; Fig. 4 is a top view of the adapter shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5illustrates the combination of two of my adapters seated in a wallopening in combination with a connector' 'positioned therethrough, theconnector being shown in' section; Fig. 6 is a front view of a modifiedform of adapter embodying my invention; Fig. 7 is a front view ofanother form of adapter embodying my invention mounted in an opening 1nthe wall; and F ig'. 8 1s a sectional view of the same, and is taken onthe line 8 8 of Fig. 7.v Similar reference characters refer to similarparts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the adapter 1, as shown, is substantiallycrescent-shaped and may be made of any substance which is sufficientlyrigid, such as a suitable metal or hard rubber or the like. Thiscrescentshaped piece is of moderate thickness and has an outer periphery2 and an inner periphery 3. On the outer perlphery' are formed aplurality of ears, three being illustrated at 4, v5 and 6, respectively.These ears may be formed integrally from a portion of the material usedfor the crescentshaped body portion or they may be otherwise suitablyattached in position thereon. These ears are rigid and extend outwardlyfrom the outer periphery 2 of the body portion and two of the ears, 4and 6, are offset axially in one direction to a certain extent, and theother ear, 5, intermediate the ears 4 and 6, is offset axially in theopposite direction to a certain extent, so that sufficient space is leftvaxially betwen both the ears 4 and 6 and the ear 5 to permit of thereception of a wall between them, with ears 4 and 6 on one side of thewall and ear 5 on the opposite side of the wall.

When, for example, it is desired to use this adapter with an electricalconnecting device such as is illustrated in Fig. 1, the adapter 1, isplaced in the opening 7 inthe wall 8 of the outlet box or the like, withthe outer periphery 2 of the adapter in contact with the periphery ofthe opening 7 and with the` ears, such as 4 and 6, which are oiset inone axial direction, overlapping and adapted to contact one side of thewall 8, and with the ears, such as 5, which are offset in the oppositeaxial direction, overlapping and adapted to contact the opposite side ofthe wall. The connector 9 is positioned in the opening with theperiphery of its neck portion 10 in contact at one side with the innerperiphery 3 of the adapter and at its opposite side in contact with theperiphery of thel aperture 7 of the wall 8. The connector may then belocked to the wall in the usual manner, as by means of washer 11, at oneside of the wall, in combination with a lock nut or threaded bushing 12adjusted on the neck 10 at the other side of the wall. The washer 11 andthe lock nut l2 may bind against the adapter on opposite sides and thusaid in securing it in firm position in the opening. The ears on theadapter will prevent the device from being removed axially from theopening, sincel the usual or standard nut 12 and washer 11 are not wideenough to overlap the wall beyond the wider portion of the adapter. Itis readily seen that by positioning the adapter in a predeterminedposition in the opening, the cable or connector may be positioned towardany side of the opening. When the opening is exceptionally large for thesize of the conduit, or other element desired to be placed therein, twoadapters, as above described, may be used. In this case, as shown inFig. 5, the two adapters l, are placed in the opening 7 diametrically oposite each other, or substantially so,'w1th their outer peripheries 2in contact with the periphery of opening 7 and their inner peripheries 3in contact with the conduit, or other element 10, and their ears 4 and 6overlapping one side of the wall 8 and ear 5 overlapping vthe wall 8 onthe opposite side. They may abut each other at their respective ends, ornot, depending upon the size of the opening, and the size of theconnector or other element, mounted in the opening. In this case a nutand washer of the usual size would be smaller than the opening, andwithout the vears on the adapters the parts would fall out of theopening. When the enlarged hole requires either one or two adapters,ears on the adapters eliminate the necessity of providing either nuts orwashers which are wide enough to overlap the wallon all sides of theopening and avoids the inconvenience and cost of being obliged to havesuch unusu'ally large and special size nuts and washers on hand.

The material used for the adapter may or may not be pliable, asdesired.l When pliable, the adapter is capable of being conformed moreor less exactly to the size of the opening or to the size of the conduitor connector, or cable, with which it is to be used. It is also withinthe scope of my invention to fashion the adapter of sulficiently sottmaterialso that the inner or outer periphery may be cutaway, or whittledto more accurately conform the adapter 20 above 4construction withoutdeparting from at 14 (Flgs. 7 and 8) to provide two flangesl 15 l:daptedto overlap opposite sides of the wa What I claimis:

1.*A device of the character described consisting of a substantiallyrigid, fiat crescent-shaped body portion and a plurality of projectionsextending outwardly beyond its exterior periphery, two `of saidprojections being o'set axially in op osite directions to provide aspace axla ly therebetween.

2. A device of' the character described, com risin in combination, asubstantially rigi Hat ody portion having an aperture eccentricallylocated therein, said body por-v tion being adapted to beseated withinan opening in a wall, reducing the size thereof and havin projectionsoverlapping opposite sides o said wall.

3. An ada ter for electrical connectors, conduits, cab es or the like,comprising a `flat substantially crescent-shaped element adapted to beinserted in an opening in the wall with its convex t'opl surface incontact with the periphery of said opening and'its concave lnnervsurface adapted to contact a 40 f connectorwr the like, disposed insaid opening, said element having a plurality of ears extendingoutwardly beyond its convex top surface, one of said ears being osetaxially relative to another of said ears and said two ears being adaptedto overlap and con tact opposite sides of the wall in which said adapteris disposed.

4. The combination with an outlet box or the like having an opening, ofa reducer for said opening'having an external diameter to fit withinsaid opening and an internal aperture, the center of said internalaperturelying t-one side of the center of said external diameter, saidreducer having a plurality of (ppos'tely offset portions-extendingoutwar y beyond its external diameter and fitting against opposite sidesof the box wall adjacent its opening, and a connecting device having anannular shoulder, one part of which overlaps a part of the wall ofsaidbox at its openin and a portion thereof overlapping said re ucer'.

This specification signed this second day of May, 1921.

GEORGE C. THOMAS, JR.

